¹⁷ ⁻ ᵗʰᵉ qᵘᵉᵉⁿ ᵃⁿᵈ ʰᵉʳ ᵖᵘⁿᵏ.
ᵖᵗ ¹
Months had passed, and I felt like every day, I was coming closer and closer to finally making my Queen, officially mine. Monroe and I were the best of friends, we told each other everything. We were always around each other, and there was really no need to do any further work on the project, as we knew everything about each other. Today, we were writing notes back and forth to each other. Well, it wasn't really a note, it was a paper ball that we were throwing back and forth, since we were on opposite sides of the classroom.
See, we were in detention.
It honestly wasn't my fault - okay, maybe it was, but it was Monroe's fault for going along with it. We were going to skip school today, to see this new horror movie that came out, but we get caught trying to sneak away after lunch. The principal wanted to give us ISS, but since this was our "first" offense, he gave us detention after school. There was supposed to be someone watching us, but he had left to go to the teacher's lounge. The paper ball hit me on the nose, and fell into my lap. I heard Monroe giggle, and I rolled my eyes, unraveling the ball.
You know we can't catch that movie, do you know how dark it gets when we'll be getting out?
I sighed, taking my pen in my hand and writing a reply to her.
And? You scared, huh?
I balled it back up, tossing it to her, she caught it in the air, and rolled her eyes at me. "No, I'm not scared, Josiah. I just don't like being out at night, that's all. Joshua's sick, and we can't walk home." I sighed, placing my feet up on the desk. "Whatever. How about Saturday?" She nodded, "I'll meet you at the movies." I leaned back in my chair, looking out the window. It looked like a perfect day to just be outside. To feel the warmth of the sunlight on your skin, while the soft breeze nips at your exposed areas. I sighed contently, taking a mental picture. I would definitely be painting that later..
"Hey, do you talk to your parents about that studio you want?"
I looked over at her, giving her a look. She knew that it was impossible to get them to stay in one spot long enough for me to even get the syllable of the word, studio out. Plus, they probably wouldn't approve of me being an artist. "Oh, that's just a hobby," my father would say, "There's plenty of other things you can make an actual job out of."
They wanted me to do something..practical. Like sit at a desk, doing a job that'll make me tons of money, but I'll hate it in the long run.
I wanted to do something exciting, fulfilling with me life. I wanted to be a famous artist, and have my name known worldwide. I wanted people as far away as Australia to want to see my future exhibits. I wanted to be so famous, that I made history. Hopefully, Monroe would be my beautiful muse. Looking over at her, my eyes fell upon the baby-blue flower she had in her hair. I took a mental note of that too, imagining ways I could fit that into my painting. Maybe I could paint the flower right int he middle of everything else?
The man that was watching us came back into the room, telling us that we were free to go. He said it like we were doing jail time. We could've left at any moment, but that would've just given us another day of detention. We gathered our things, and walked out of the class room, beginning to walk down the hall together, heading towards our exit. It was about four thirty-five, and the hallway was basically clear, everyone either on their way home or at practice.
"Hey, have you ever went on one of the school's yearly trips?" I asked her, stopping my movement. She raised her eyebrow at me, "What?" I smiled, starting to dig around in my bag for the flyer. I've been meaning to ask her if she was going. Each year, the destination changes, like last year, it was Australia, and the year before that was China. This year, we were going to Paris, France. I handed her the flyer, and her eyes lit up, twinkling. "Paris?" she asked, "Y'all are going to Paris?"
"Most of our senior class is, which means that we'll be going along with them!" I grinned, "We'll stay in an awesome hotel, and see all that there is to see!" Her pretty smile faded, and she gave the paper back to me. "I'm not sure that I'll be able to go, Josiah.." she sighed, making me bite my lip. I saw Joshua out of the corner of my eye, and he was approaching us. "What's wrong, you know you can tell me?" She nodded, "I know that..but I'm not sure my parents will let me go, that's the thing.."
I could see it in her eyes that she was holding something back from me.
I didn't like it one bit.
She leaned up to kiss my cheek, but I moved away. She sighed, "I'll see you tomorrow, Josiah.." I watched her walk down the hall, meeting Joshua half way. I watched them walk out of the exit they always go through, the back of the school. An idea popped into my head, and I sighed, trying to decide against it. What if she didn't trust me anymore? What if she didn't talk to me, anymore.
Do it, Josiah? What harm could come from it? Don't you want to get to the bottom of it?
I took a deep breath, placing the flyer for the trip back in my bag. I started to follow Monroe and Joshua, coming to the door where they left at. I waited until they left into the woods to follow them, and I let the door close shut behind me. Good thing I decided not to drive today..I followed them through the woods cautiously, noticing the drastic change in how the area felt. Where were they going? I continued to follow them, feeling like I should turn back before I see something I don't want to see. But going against my gut, I kept following them.
We came to a dirt road, where I could see that Monroe was on Joshua's back. "You ever thought about getting a haircut?" I heard her ask him. "Hell no, I need this hair for the ladies." She giggled at his response, thumping the side of his head. "What ladies? I don't see any ladies following you like lost puppies at school," she teased. "Because, I have older ladies."
"Whatever."
Observing my surroundings, everything looked run down, damaged. Like someone had just took a sledgehammer, and made a mess of the buildings. It was so..lonely..so sad. I passed by a building, where the inside was exposed, the paint chipping off the walls. There was barely any cars, and the cars that were there were missing doors, hoods, and were resting on cinder blocks. I made sure to keep Monroe and Joshua in my sight, and I took a deep breath, rethinking how I saw her before. I saw her as a beautiful being, who didn't care about designer clothes, accessories, all that extra stuff people wore.
Now I knew that she didn't have a choice.
I was thinking of insane ideas, thinking that maybe..just maybe, it wasn't what I thought. Maybe she lived in a beautiful home amongst all these run down buildings? Walking past a sign, I paused, reading over the chipping, blue letters. Palm Meadows. I took a breather, and picked up my pace. I didn't want to think the worst of my Queen. I didn't want to believe it. My world would crumble. I wouldn't know how to react..but that would mean that had been lying to me, the whole time..
I kept following them, and I hid behind a wall as they entered a home. It was one of the better looking buildings around, but it still had the washed out, faded effect that the other buildings had. There were two girls out on the lawn, playing around with a black cat. They stopped playing to say hi to Monroe and Joshua, and continued when they walked inside. I sighed, sliding down the wall.
She lied.
My head and heart hurt, and it felt like time was slowing down for me. I had trusted her. I had been completely truthful with her, and the least she could've done was tell me the truth. I ran my hands through my afro, trying to calm myself down. I wanted to cry, honestly. Just break down right here, and cry. A few tears escaped through, and I wiped my eyes.
My Queen had lied to me.
It was like she had stabbed me, repeatedly in the heart. Like she had shot me, and left me to bleed out. I picked myself up from the ground, adjusting my bag on my shoulder. I exhaled, trying to prepare myself. I approached the two girls, noticing that they were twins. "H-Hey..um..do you guys know Monroe?" I asked them, their eyes widening in awe at me. "Are you that boy that gave her that jacket?" one of them asked, completely disregarding my question. "Oh shut up, Tiffany. And yeah, we know Monroe, do you want me to get her?" The one that wasn't Tiffany took my hand, leading me inside the home.
"Monroe, there's someone here to see you!" she yelled, towards the stairs.
I heard her come down, and I turned to her as she stopped, looking a me. Her mouth dropped open, and she had a horrified look on her face.
"J-Josiah-"
"You lied to me."